carbon capture, being able to use coal in a responsible way to other countries, the department of energy, those national labs, 17 national labs are probably some of the best investment that the american taxpayer made over the course of the years because of the basic research that was done there and the commercialization of that research to change people's lives. perry fridayck night at 8:00 eastern on c-span, c-span.org and the free read -- c-span radio app. announcer: at the white house today, president trump hosted the prime minister of norway. they met in the oval office and took questions from reporters at a joint press conference.

president trump: thank you very much. i am honored to welcome the prime minister of norway to the white house. madam prime minister, it has been a pleasure to host you today. we had some interesting discussions as we strengthen the friendship between our two countries, norwegians and americans have so much in common. up of nations made strong, pioneering and adventurous people, to say the least. over a thousand years ago, daring voyagers of norwegian descent, such as eric the red braved the seas in exploration. centuries later during the second world war, brave norwegians escaped occupied norway to fight alongside

americans and the allies including on the beaches of normandy in our friendship 1944. builds on this proud history and is rooted in our commitment to confront the problems of today with the same confidence and that same determination. i think it might even be greater determination. we've just concluded a series of discussions on how we can work together to promote a future of security and world prosperity. and also great future for our , a respective countries working together. the prime minister and i are both committed to strengthening the nato alliance. norway has made contributions to the nato-led mission in afghanistan, where we are doing very well. it's been turned around. as well as to nato and nato's enhanced forward presence in poland and the baltic states. i want to thank the prime

minister and the norwegian people for their participation in these efforts. i encourage norway to follow through on its commitment to meet the 2% of gdp defense spending obligation, so that together we can confront the full range of threats facing our nations, and i believe norway will get there quite soon. norway is also a vital and valued member of the campaign to defeat isis. because of us, isis has now lost almost 100% of the territory it previously held. not so long ago in iraq and in syria. we're grateful for norway's civilian assistance efforts and generous humanitarian aid to the region. they have been out there, and really doing an incredible job. i'm also pleased to share that the economic ties between our two countries are robust and growing. the united states currently has

a trade surplus, which is shocking. do you believe i'm saying we have a surplus? there aren't too many. you're going to have to go back and check your people, but we're getting more and more surpluses all over the world, i will say that. i told that to the prime minister, but our two countries are robust and growing. the united states currently has a large contingent of products that we sell, and back and forth with norway. and one of the big products, of course, is our military equipment. i want to thank the people of norway for their commitment to fair and reciprocal trade. a word that you're going to hear more and more coming from this administration, and it should have come from other administrations before me. reciprocal trade. which benefits us all. free nations are stronger when the trade is fair. and trade has not been overly fair with the united states, but we have had that great

relationship with norway, but remember the word "reciprocal." in november, we started delivering the first f-52s and f-35 fighter jets. we have a total of 52. and they have delivered a number of them already, a little ahead of schedule. it's a $10 billion order. norway also invests about one-third of its sovereign wealth fund in american businesses, supporting hundreds of thousands of american jobs. they are very big investors in our stock market, and therefore the prime minister thanked me very much, because their market is -- you have done very well with your investments in the united states. right? thank you. norway's commitment to mutually beneficial commerce is a model for other nations, and it really is. it's an amazing country. i look forward to forging an even stronger economic relationship between the united states and norway, growing this record of success with even more

investment and more jobs and more job creation. we're also proud of our increasing cooperation on health and health security, and also on biodefense. very important to both countries. i commend prime minister solberg's efforts to promote vaccine development and disease prevention. together, we can save and improve many, many lives. we're working very hard and in some cases together on cures to many ailments. prime minister solberg, i want to thank you again for joining us at the white house. for decades, norwegians and americans have stood side by side against common threats to our freedom, our security and to our values. together, we have fought against fascism and communism and terrorism and face threats always together. we're partners.

our partnership has advanced peace, cooperation and respect for human dignity all around the world. today, we remain united in our efforts to confront challenges, to seize new opportunities and to build a bright and beautiful future for our countries, our people, our children and i think we're doing very well, working together, and we have a newfound friendship. so i want to thank you and god bless you. thank you very much. solberg: thank you, mr. president. thank you for your generous welcome. it's a great honor to be here at the white house. the relationship between our two countries is strong and it has very deep roots. there are millions of u.s. citizens who proudly call themselves norwegian-americans.

and our norwegian constitution, the second-oldest in the world, that is still in force, was inspired by american ideals. and we have a long and continuous history of serving shoulder-to-shoulder on battle fields around the world. the u.s. remains our most important ally and major trade partner and a close friend. today we have discussed issues of importance for our relationship, how we can keep our countries and citizens safe. how we can grow our economies, how we can further cooperate in areas of mutual interests. and i have assured president trump that norway remains an ally and a friend that you can count on in the future. we are already number two in nato after the u.s. in terms of defense spending per capita, and we are making significant investments to further strengthen our defense, and this includes, as the president said, some big buys from american industry. maritime from boeing. 52 combat aircraft from lockheed martin, our largest single public investment ever in norway, but also, we are buying

new submarines and investments in intelligence capabilities and army assets. which is important also for our job in the northern part. the american economy is doing well, and our economic relations are flourishing. and that's to the benefit of both countries. as we discussed in our meeting for a small country like norway, it's important for our ability to trade and to rest across border that we have fair trade and that we have trade systems, also. and we think it's important for our future. norwegian investments and norwegian companies support close to half a million jobs in the united states. through our government pension funds, substantial revenues from our oil sectors are being invested in u.s. assets. the u.s. has an impressive business community, and i have commanded a leading role it is playing also in the transformation to a green economy.

for example, by the fact that one of the big areas we are now importing in norway is electrical cars from tesla. and norway's combatting climate change is an important issue for us, and we are committed to the paris agreement. but at least to businesses and at least to american businesses. also selling cars in norway. at the same time, the green economy is an area where we see tremendous economic and business opportunities in the future. and finally, i think it's important to say that we also are discussing some of the big, difficult issues. for example, the development in afghanistan. where i think and hope we can find a future, it's important that we are all working together to find a solution both in north korea, afghanistan, syria and iraq, and since september 11th, 2001, norway has contributed to a range of mission and operations, including the fight against isis. and i have assured the president

we will remain unwavering in our commitment to the fight against terrorism all over the world. so mr. president, i am looking forward to future cooperation, and thank you for a very fruitful meeting. president trump: thank you. some questions. how about sara westwood? where is sara? thank you. "washington examiner." >> thank you, mr. president. yesterday in a meeting with lawmakers, you said you would be open to signing just about any immigration deal that bipartisan group of lawmakers sent to you. would you be willing to sign an immigration deal that ultimately does not include funding for the border wall, or would that be a redline for you? president trump: no, no. we need the wall for security. we need the wall for safety. we need the wall for stopping the drugs from pouring in. i would imagine that the people in the room, both democrat and republican -- i really believe

they're going to come up with a solution to the daca problem, which has been going on for a long time, and maybe beyond that immigration as a whole. but any solution has to include the wall, because without the wall, it all doesn't work. you can look at other instances. look at what happened in israel. they put up the wall, they solved a very major problem. we need the wall. we have to have the wall for security purposes. security is number and so the one answer is, have to have the wall. thank you. please. >> can i call on someone from norwegian broadcasting? >> mr. president, prime minister, recently an american general, robert neller, told his marines based in norway, there is a war coming. a big fight. mr. president, how imminent is that big war, and where will it take place? president trump: when you say

the big war, you're saying what? say it? >> it was an american general, robert neller. he visited a nor -- the american marines based in norway. and he said there is a war coming. a big-ass fight. when would that war come? president trump: well, maybe he knows something that i don't know. okay. i would say this -- we have a very, very powerful military. we're getting more powerful by the month, by the day. we're ordering a lot of the equipment that you're ordering. we're ordering it, but in larger amounts, to put it mildly. we are building up our military to a point that we have never been before. we're also -- we were very much -- weakened over the last long period of time, but not with me. no, i don't expect that. i think we're going to have -- because of strength, peace through strength. i think we're going to have a long period of peace. i hope we do. we have certainly problems with north korea, but a lot of good talks are going on right now.

a lot of good energy. i see a lot of good energy. i like it very much, what i'm seeing. i just spoke this morning with the -- as you know, with the president. president moon of south korea. he had some really great meetings. his representatives had a great, great meeting, and i had some very good feedback from that. so hopefully a lot of good things are going to work out. no, i think that we will have peace through strength. our military will be stronger than it ever was in a very short period of time. and that's my opinion. that's not the general's opening, but i think my opinion counts more right now. thank you. >> maybe i can just add, the reason why we are so happy we have you as marines training in norway is that's part of the deterrent strategy, to make sure we don't have a war in the future. president trump: sara, did you have a question for the prime minister? >> i did, yes. thank you. madam prime minister, president trump has said that the investigation into russian

collusion makes our country, quote, look very bad. and he said this morning that, quote, the world is laughing at our stupidity. so my question to you is, are you laughing at the russian investigation? >> i think -- i think that it's up to every political system and country to scrutinize and discuss their own political agenda in their countries. and i respect that very much and that this is an issue for american politics. i would just like to say that it has impacted also in europe. i think all european countries have -- who have had elections this year have been looking into, will there be any type of tampering of this. we concluded after our election that we could not find any proof of any who tried to put any emphasis on that from countries outside norway. i think it was a norwegian election with norwegian participants. president trump: well, i will say this. there is collusion, but it's really with the democrats and

the russians, far more than it is with the republicans and the russians. so the witch hunt continues. john, go ahead. >> thank you, mr. president. i also have a question for the prime minister, but if i could address the president first. sara brought up the russia investigation. your legal team, sources have told us, believes that in the next few weeks a special counsel, robert mueller, will ask for some sort of an interview with you. your legal team believes as part of wrapping up his investigation. are you open to meeting with him? would you be willing to meet with him, without condition? or would you demand that strict parameters be placed around you -- any encounter between you and the special counsel? president trump: well, again, john, there has been no collusion between the trump campaign and russians or trump and russians. no collusion. when i watch you interviewing all the people leaving their committees, the democrats are all running for office, and

they are trying to say this, but bottom line, they all say there's no collusion. and there is no collusion. and when you talk about interviews, hillary clinton had an interview where she wasn't sworn in. she wasn't given the oath. they didn't take notes. they didn't record. and it was done on the 4th of july weekend. that's perhaps ridiculous and a lot of people looked upon that as being a very serious breach, and it really was. but again, i'll speak to attorneys. i can only say this. there was absolutely no collusion. everybody knows it. every committee -- i've been in office now for 11 months. for 11 months, they've had this phony cloud over this administration, over our government, and it has hurt our government. it does hurt our government. it's a democrat hoax that was brought up as an excuse for losing an election that, frankly, the democrats should have won, because they have such a tremendous advantage in the electoral college.

so it was brought up for that reason, but it has been determined that there is no collusion, and by virtually everybody. so we'll see what happens. we'll see what happens. reporter: would you be open to -- >> certainly, i'll see what happens. but when they have no collusion and nobody has found any collusion at any level, it seems unlikely the you would even have an interview. reporter: madam prime minister, norway shares a border with -- a small but strategic border with russia. president trump's position has been that it is better to work with vladimir putin if possible than against him. where do you come down on that idea, better to work with putin? >> i think russia is an important player in the international world and i don't think you can not work and talk with them. but it is important to say we suffered some economic

difficulties in norway based on sanctions. on the other hand, we have a good relationship with russia over that border area, where we do have very much free movement of people, especially people move to and fro. we have a large corporation on sustainable fisheries in this area. area ine biggest cod the world, a sustainable resource that we patrol and work together. we think it is important to do two things at the same time. yes, the international law is that, there was a break of in relation to crimea and ukraine and we stand by our allies in that. at the same time, as the neighboring country, we do day-to-day work on things we have to do for the people and economic activities in that area, which is a fragile area for the whole world. is president trump: just to add to the answer, i think it is much of better to work with

russia. it's very much better having to do with north korea, where we currently have a problem that should have never been my problem. this should have been a problem solved many years ago when it was much less dangerous, but it was given to me, along with a big mess of other things. but i will say this. i am for massive oil and gas and everything else, and a lot of energy. putin can't love that. i am for the strongest military that the united states ever had. putin can't love that. but hillary was not for a strong military, and hillary, my opponent, was for windmills. and she was for other types of energy that don't have the same capacities at this moment, certainly. so i just want to say, it's a lot better to work with other countries. we are working with china on north korea, we're working with various other countries. i think we're doing very well. we had a great talk, as you know, and as you reported. we had a great talk this morning with president moon and i think

that a lot of good things are happening. we're going to see what happens. but working with other countries, whether it's russia or china or india or any of the countries that surround this world and encompass this world, that's a good thing, john, that's not a bad thing. that's a very good thing, okay? ok, go ahead. reporter: mr. president, prime minister, norway strongly supports the paris agreement. and has expressed regret you decided to leave it. what could persuade you to remain, and what kind of common ground did you find in your talks today on this topic? press trump: well, it wasn't a major topic, i must tell you. we talked about other things, including mostly trade. but i will say that the paris agreement, as drawn, and as we signed, was very unfair to the united states. it put great penalties on us. it made it very difficult for us to deal in terms of business.

it took away a lot of our asset values. we are a country rich in gas and coal and oil and lots of other things, and there was a tremendous penalty for using it. it hurt our businesses. according to some estimates, we would have had a closed business in order to qualify by 2025. whereas an example, china, by 2030, they don't kick in until 2030. russia, some place in the mid 1990s, that was their standard. and that was never a good standard. because that was a dirty standard for the environment. it treated the united states very unfairly, and frankly, it's an agreement that i have no problem with, but i had a problem with the agreement that they signed because, as usual, they made a bad deal. so we could conceivably go back in, but i say this. we are very strong on the environment. i feel very strongly about the environment. our epa and our epa commissioners are very, very powerful in the sense that they

want to have clean water, clean air, but we also want businesses that can compete. and the paris accord really would have taken away our competitive edge. and we're going not going to let that happen. i'm not going to let it happen. >> and if i just might add there are business opportunities in this, as we talked about because we have strict regulations on -- to reach our paris targets. that means that we have very strong policies for environmental-friendly and climate friendly technology which is now part of why the united states now has a surplus in the economy to norway. so to never miss upon a good opportunity with good environmental standards. president trump: one of the great assets of norway is a thing called water, and they have tremendous hydropower. tremendous. in fact, most of your energy or your electricity is produced by hydro.

i wish we would do some of that, but hydropower is fantastic and it's a great asset that you have. thank you very much. great honor. thank you. >> thank you. >> mr. president, isn't the special counsel still determining whether there was collusion, sir? president trump: thank you very much. announcer: c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. kansasup this morning, republican congressman roger marshall will join us to discuss the future of health care and the upcoming government funding debate, and then colorado to -- congresswoman talks about immigration policy and a possible government shutdown. be sure to watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern. this week, the supreme court heard oral argument over voting rights in the case of john q

randolphsus philip institute. here the argument at 8:00 eastern on friday on c-span, on c-span.org or listen with the free c-span radio app. you can follow the upcoming schedule of oral arguments at c-span.org/supreme court. you will see the schedule for the term and all current appearances their on c-span. with supreme court video-on-demand, you can watch the oral arguments we have aired at c-span.org/supreme court. c-span, davidt on norquist. he updated the house armed services community on the an lastale at the beg month. the hearing runs about an hour and 45 minutes.